Last week I ventured into the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the celebration of Dia De Los Muertos. I wasnt quite sure what to expect as I had no knowledge about this sacred day or its origins, but with camera strapped to my side and an imagination I wondered into the unkown. I have spent many a night in this graveyard. Yup you heard right. In the summer months they open it up for movie nights on the open lawn. A strange weird wonderful place, I believe it first started happening to help raise money to keep the graveyard up founded in 1899.
In 1939, Jules Roth, a convicted felon, bought the cemetery. He used the money from the cemetery’s operations to pay for luxuries and let the cemetery fall into disrepair, also closing it to most racial minorities, e.g. forbidding actress Hattie McDaniel to be buried there. To settle tax bills, he sold some of the cemetery’s buildings along Santa Monica Boulevard, which became home to an auto-parts store and a laundromat.[4] He also sold the original entrance to strip malls, never repaired the roofs or earthquake damage to crypts and left the fund meant to take care of the cemetery till the end of time missing about $9 million, according to the current owner.[2] By 1997, Roth was bankrupt. He died on 4 January 1998.[4] The state of California had revoked the cemetery’s license to sell its remaining plots.
I worked on the Paramount lot that sits behind the cemetery for several months several years ago and heard numerous stories of people seeing ghosts on the lot in the early hours.
The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous cultures. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years. Here in Los Angeles last weekI was introduced to this ritual at the forever Hollywood cemetery where people dressed in costume and displayed shrines for the beloved dead.
People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages as well as photos and memorabilia of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.
Toys are brought for dead children (los angelitos, or “the little angels”), and bottles of tequila, mezcal or pulque or jars of atole for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or the deceased’s favorite candies on the grave. Ofrendas are also put in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto (“bread of the dead”), and sugar skulls and beverages such as atole. The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased.[2] Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the “spiritual essence” of the ofrendasfood, so even though the celebrators eat the food after the festivities, they believe it lacks nutritional value. Pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of Mixquic, Pátzcuaro and Janitzio, people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives. In many places, people have picnics at the grave site as well.
A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (colloquially called calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas (colloquial term for “skeleton”), and foods such as sugar or chocolate skulls, which are inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Sugar skulls are gifts that can be given to both the living and the dead. Other holiday foods include pan de muerto, a sweet egg bread made in various shapes from plain rounds to skulls and rabbits, often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.
A feast for the eyes in a crazy sort of way. I was respectful whilst taking these image however it seemed to not bother the people and their shrines and they in fact embraced all of the cameras. Even the dead in Hollywood love the limelight!
The art work was spread in between the tomb stones and ashes on display with the sound of the drum beating outside and the flashing colors of lights it was a surreal feeling walking around them.
I love Paris. Whenever I go to London I try and make a trip to across the channel, the Eurostar takes you from London to Paris in two hours pretty impressive and smooth. Hotel Costes is a favorite its romantic velvet and tassels gets me every time, however this trip we decided to rent a loft in the 19 section of the city and see how it was to live a little like a Parisian.
